Showing posts with label preschool. Show all posts
Showing posts with label preschool. Show all posts
Thursday, August 16, 2012
First Day of School Pictures - 2012
I've seen a ton of sweet first day of school pictures floating around the internet. I particularly liked this one and combined it with the idea of holding a sign. This year was the first year both children were heading off to preschool/pre-K at our local public school and so I decided that I would get it done this time. I printed off the "signs" using microsoft word the night before while the kids were in the bath. I dragged the children into the driveway, cajoled smiles from them with silly sentences, and took a few pics with my phone before loading them in the car. Then I used PicMonkey to edit the pictures and add the text.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Fall Brings Change
I dropped the children off at daycare for the last time the other day. I've been driving to that daycare two days a week since the business opened in January of 2010. It is the end of an era for us. I was a little sad to say goodbye to all of the wonderful teachers that helped care for my little ones when they were little. In general I think that daycare teachers are under-appreciated and underpaid. Good daycare teachers are amazing.
We attended the preschool orientation at our local school district. Ava will have the same teacher Michael had last year and he's moving up to the pre-kindergarten room. It's only a half-day program. They're there for less than three hours. I want them to go mostly for the social connections with other children their same age. Also, it gives me some time to work on some projects that have been on the back burner for a while. I have mixed feelings about it though because I'm still strongly considering homeschooling beginning with Michael's kindergarten year.
Mostly I'm just resistant to change. I wonder what it will be like. Right now, several days a week are "home days" where the children and I have a relaxed rhythm to our day. Beginning next week I'll be dropping them off and picking them up from school on weekdays. Three days a week we'll have an additional after-school activity (speech twice for Ava and gymnastics once for both of them). The rhythm of the days will change. Some people love change. They find it stimulating and exciting and look forward to it. I like routines and familiarity. I'm sure that in a few weeks we will all settle in to the new routines and I'll look back at my current unease and think to myself that it was unnecessary. Somehow, knowing that still doesn't help my mental grumbling now.
I hope all of you weather your fall changes well and enjoy your new routines and adventures.
We attended the preschool orientation at our local school district. Ava will have the same teacher Michael had last year and he's moving up to the pre-kindergarten room. It's only a half-day program. They're there for less than three hours. I want them to go mostly for the social connections with other children their same age. Also, it gives me some time to work on some projects that have been on the back burner for a while. I have mixed feelings about it though because I'm still strongly considering homeschooling beginning with Michael's kindergarten year.
Mostly I'm just resistant to change. I wonder what it will be like. Right now, several days a week are "home days" where the children and I have a relaxed rhythm to our day. Beginning next week I'll be dropping them off and picking them up from school on weekdays. Three days a week we'll have an additional after-school activity (speech twice for Ava and gymnastics once for both of them). The rhythm of the days will change. Some people love change. They find it stimulating and exciting and look forward to it. I like routines and familiarity. I'm sure that in a few weeks we will all settle in to the new routines and I'll look back at my current unease and think to myself that it was unnecessary. Somehow, knowing that still doesn't help my mental grumbling now.
I hope all of you weather your fall changes well and enjoy your new routines and adventures.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Why does preschool registration begin in late January?
We just finished registering both children for preschool. Why on earth am I making decisions now about preschool that doesn't begin until August? My daughter is two years old and I am supposed to try and decide how many mornings a week of preschool I think she will be ready for eight months from now. I am just supposed to guess whether or not she'll still be taking an afternoon nap so I can decide if I want to enroll her in the crowded morning sessions or the less crowded afternoon sessions. Sure, I could wait to enroll her, but the program fills up quickly. If I wait, I'll probably lose the opportunity all together.
We decided to play it conservatively. We enrolled both children five mornings a week. We can always change our mind later and decide to only send them three mornings a week, but if we don't reserve all five mornings we won't have the opportunity to increase our number of days after the spots have all filled up.
We decided to move Michael up from the explore classroom (a mix of 3 and 4 year olds who mostly attend part-time) to the discover classroom (a pre-school classroom of 4 year olds who are required to enroll for all five days of the week). I feel like he is getting a little bored at home and wants to spend more of his time with his peers in a social environment. Of course, as soon as I made that decision I began second guessing it. I don't really want him to go all five weekdays. I'd like to have one more year where the three of us (Michael, Ava, and I) have a full day at home together. Still, I remind myself, I can change my mind in the fall.
We decided to enroll Ava at a different school all together. We enrolled Ava at the same school she'll be receiving her IEP speech services from beginning in March. The preschool program there is supposed to be amazing and some of the rooms are co-taught by SLPs. They can just pull her out of her classroom for her speech session which will save me an extra trip twice a week. Of course, as soon as I made that decision I began to wonder if I should have just enrolled her at our local school (Michael's school) for preschool. We know and like the explore room classroom teacher. If we had done that she'd be going to the same school as her brother. I'd just drive her from one school to another two days a week for speech.
All of this would be more straightforward if I weren't forced to make these decisions eight months ahead of time based on information that will be outdated by the fall. What's done is done. Fall will come. Everything will work out. The children will be older and more independent as it should be. I just need to relax and calm the decision anxiety a little.
We decided to play it conservatively. We enrolled both children five mornings a week. We can always change our mind later and decide to only send them three mornings a week, but if we don't reserve all five mornings we won't have the opportunity to increase our number of days after the spots have all filled up.
We decided to move Michael up from the explore classroom (a mix of 3 and 4 year olds who mostly attend part-time) to the discover classroom (a pre-school classroom of 4 year olds who are required to enroll for all five days of the week). I feel like he is getting a little bored at home and wants to spend more of his time with his peers in a social environment. Of course, as soon as I made that decision I began second guessing it. I don't really want him to go all five weekdays. I'd like to have one more year where the three of us (Michael, Ava, and I) have a full day at home together. Still, I remind myself, I can change my mind in the fall.
We decided to enroll Ava at a different school all together. We enrolled Ava at the same school she'll be receiving her IEP speech services from beginning in March. The preschool program there is supposed to be amazing and some of the rooms are co-taught by SLPs. They can just pull her out of her classroom for her speech session which will save me an extra trip twice a week. Of course, as soon as I made that decision I began to wonder if I should have just enrolled her at our local school (Michael's school) for preschool. We know and like the explore room classroom teacher. If we had done that she'd be going to the same school as her brother. I'd just drive her from one school to another two days a week for speech.
All of this would be more straightforward if I weren't forced to make these decisions eight months ahead of time based on information that will be outdated by the fall. What's done is done. Fall will come. Everything will work out. The children will be older and more independent as it should be. I just need to relax and calm the decision anxiety a little.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Easy Word Family Practice Cards (or articulation practice cards)
I saw this simple idea for making word family practice cards and instantly wanted to make some for Michael. All you need is some sample paint cards (one per word family) and some cardstock.
Take the paint cards and write a letter that makes a word when combined with that family on each paint color. Cut a small piece of cardstock and write the word family on the cardstock. Cut a small square out of the cardstock so that the letters on the paint cards will show through when you place the word family card on top of them. I also wrote the word family on the back of each paint card so Michael can match the paint card to the corresponding word family card.
I made all four of these in 20 minutes or so. When I was finished I called Michael over and he read 27 words all by himself. It was fun. He liked this better than the word family eggs I made a while back because the cards are easier to use.
I started simple because Michael is just starting out, but you could easily use more complicated families (-ill, -ake, -oy, etc.) and include blends on the paint cards to increase the difficulty of the activity.
Teachers could use this as a phonics center activity. SLPs could use this to work on final consonants because you could choose a family with a final consonant you are targeting. You could also target an initial sound by putting different word endings on the paint card and making the initial sound you are targeting on the cardstock. You get the bonus of working on reading and articulation at the same time. These won't work for speech practice with Ava because she's too young for reading, but for elementary students it would be great.
Take the paint cards and write a letter that makes a word when combined with that family on each paint color. Cut a small piece of cardstock and write the word family on the cardstock. Cut a small square out of the cardstock so that the letters on the paint cards will show through when you place the word family card on top of them. I also wrote the word family on the back of each paint card so Michael can match the paint card to the corresponding word family card.
I made all four of these in 20 minutes or so. When I was finished I called Michael over and he read 27 words all by himself. It was fun. He liked this better than the word family eggs I made a while back because the cards are easier to use.
I started simple because Michael is just starting out, but you could easily use more complicated families (-ill, -ake, -oy, etc.) and include blends on the paint cards to increase the difficulty of the activity.
Teachers could use this as a phonics center activity. SLPs could use this to work on final consonants because you could choose a family with a final consonant you are targeting. You could also target an initial sound by putting different word endings on the paint card and making the initial sound you are targeting on the cardstock. You get the bonus of working on reading and articulation at the same time. These won't work for speech practice with Ava because she's too young for reading, but for elementary students it would be great.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
First Official Day of Preschool
Michael's first day of preschool went beautifully. The children were amazing. Ava didn't mind at all that she was leaving the house without her brother (she gets dropped off an hour earlier than he does now). Michael didn't seem at all sad to see her going off to his "old school". My husband and I dropped Michael off together taking a couple of "first day of school" pictures. He did beautifully. He walked into his classroom. When his teacher walked him over to a table full of name tags for each children he immediately recognized his name, picked it up, and handed it to her for help putting it on. Then he just took off for the toys and children without even looking back in our direction.
Two and a half hours later I headed back to the school and sat through my first pick-up line of cars. He walked out with his class. I took his hand and buckled him into his car seat and that was that. He told me that they didn't do art. After some questioning, I realized that meant they used crayons rather than paint that day. He had colored fish crackers for snack which was very exciting. He also got to choose his own drink from the refrigerator. He chose white milk, but next time he's going to choose chocolate. He also informed me that their refrigerator is much colder than ours. The milk was so cold it almost hurt his mouth. He also mentioned that there are a lot of new friends at school but one boy did push past him to get up the slide. He was also a bit disappointed that he was on the preschool playground rather than the larger playground for the elementary children. He told me there were two circle times. One at the beginning of the day and one right at the end. He also wanted to know when the next school day was.
I thought I got a pretty amazing amount of detail about his first day and was pleased that he seemed to be looking forward to going back again in a couple of days. We went home, ate lunch, and then left again to get Ava from daycare. When his former teachers asked him how school was he explained carefully to them that now he's going to "three and a half school" not "two and a half school". Apparently that's what he thinks is going on. I do adore that child.
It was a great beginning.
Two and a half hours later I headed back to the school and sat through my first pick-up line of cars. He walked out with his class. I took his hand and buckled him into his car seat and that was that. He told me that they didn't do art. After some questioning, I realized that meant they used crayons rather than paint that day. He had colored fish crackers for snack which was very exciting. He also got to choose his own drink from the refrigerator. He chose white milk, but next time he's going to choose chocolate. He also informed me that their refrigerator is much colder than ours. The milk was so cold it almost hurt his mouth. He also mentioned that there are a lot of new friends at school but one boy did push past him to get up the slide. He was also a bit disappointed that he was on the preschool playground rather than the larger playground for the elementary children. He told me there were two circle times. One at the beginning of the day and one right at the end. He also wanted to know when the next school day was.
I thought I got a pretty amazing amount of detail about his first day and was pleased that he seemed to be looking forward to going back again in a couple of days. We went home, ate lunch, and then left again to get Ava from daycare. When his former teachers asked him how school was he explained carefully to them that now he's going to "three and a half school" not "two and a half school". Apparently that's what he thinks is going on. I do adore that child.
It was a great beginning.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Imminent Transition
Two mornings a week I drop the children off at a very nice local daycare at 7:30 in the morning. They feed the children breakfast, alternate indoor activities with outdoor ones (weather permitting), and feed them lunch. I pick the children up at 12:30 pm. I get five blessed hours of time to myself. During that time I schedule appointments when necessary, but mostly I just work on independent pursuits. I work on this blog, or the book. I love those ten child-free hours a week. They keep me balanced.
This is Michael's last week at daycare. This fall he is eligible to enter our local school district's preschool program and the first day is next Tuesday. We're still sending him two mornings a week, but now the program is from 8:30-11:00 am. Breakfast and lunch are not served.
As of next week, I will have to serve one child, but not the other, breakfast and lunch. I have to drop children off and pick them up in different places at different times. And let's not forget that the wonderful 10 hours of keep-me-balanced time to myself will suddenly be cut in half. Now, I'm not complaining exactly (Ok. Fine. I am complaining a little.) I know that we are lucky to be able to send the children to school two mornings a week. I know that we are lucky to have multiple programs that are high quality and have openings for the children part time. I know that even five hours a week is more alone time than many moms get. I know that many moms are doing multiple drop-offs and pick-ups a day. However, it is still a transition for me right now and I'm allowed to point out the changes.
Michael is excited I think. And I actually believe that a shorter school day might be better for him. He hasn't been as excited about school since he was moved to a different room with new teachers and a slightly different mix of children. I am hoping that the shorter school day will be good for him. Also, his friend from up the street will be going too on the same days.
Also, my recently retired mother (who lives only about 5 minutes away from us) has offered to pick Michael up from school and watch him and feed him lunch so that I don't have to coordinate two children in the afternoon. I am so grateful for the offer and I think it is a win for everyone involved. My mom and Michael get some special bonding time and I get a little extra quiet time myself.
And so that transition is right around the corner for all of us. Let the schooling years begin.
This is Michael's last week at daycare. This fall he is eligible to enter our local school district's preschool program and the first day is next Tuesday. We're still sending him two mornings a week, but now the program is from 8:30-11:00 am. Breakfast and lunch are not served.
As of next week, I will have to serve one child, but not the other, breakfast and lunch. I have to drop children off and pick them up in different places at different times. And let's not forget that the wonderful 10 hours of keep-me-balanced time to myself will suddenly be cut in half. Now, I'm not complaining exactly (Ok. Fine. I am complaining a little.) I know that we are lucky to be able to send the children to school two mornings a week. I know that we are lucky to have multiple programs that are high quality and have openings for the children part time. I know that even five hours a week is more alone time than many moms get. I know that many moms are doing multiple drop-offs and pick-ups a day. However, it is still a transition for me right now and I'm allowed to point out the changes.
Michael is excited I think. And I actually believe that a shorter school day might be better for him. He hasn't been as excited about school since he was moved to a different room with new teachers and a slightly different mix of children. I am hoping that the shorter school day will be good for him. Also, his friend from up the street will be going too on the same days.
Also, my recently retired mother (who lives only about 5 minutes away from us) has offered to pick Michael up from school and watch him and feed him lunch so that I don't have to coordinate two children in the afternoon. I am so grateful for the offer and I think it is a win for everyone involved. My mom and Michael get some special bonding time and I get a little extra quiet time myself.
And so that transition is right around the corner for all of us. Let the schooling years begin.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Toddler and Preschool Online Activities
I made a list of some of websites Michael and Ava spend time on when we let them have computer time. Some of the sites have animated songs, some have animated stories, and some have simple games appropriate for young children. With some basic computer skills my kids are even pretty independent with most of these. I usually sit down and watch everything with them or play each game with them once showing them how it works, and they can take it from there in the future. Everything listed has a link that will actually take you to the site, so check them out and let me know if you enjoy visiting them with your little ones.
Toddler and Preschool Online Activities
I'll be adding to the list as I remember ones I've forgotten and as I find more. If you have some favorites I should check out tell me about them in the comments.
Toddler and Preschool Online Activities
I'll be adding to the list as I remember ones I've forgotten and as I find more. If you have some favorites I should check out tell me about them in the comments.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Free Themed Preschool and Toddler Activities
I stumbled upon a website with a great set of free activities. The authors have created themed sets of learning activities for toddlers and preschoolers. The reproducibles are downloadable in .pdf form. I downloaded all of them because I'm a collector and I'm like that.
I decided to start with the Transportation Theme Pack because transportation is popular with both my children. I did not print out every activity included with the pack because I didn't feel like my two and three year olds were ready for the letter tracing and writing activities just yet. I did print out the matching transportation picture/word cards, the shadow matching activity, the tracing lines activities, the 3-piece puzzle cards, the bus size sequencing activity, the counting cards, the left and right sorting cards, and the beginning-sound word cards. I printed most of them on cardstock and I may even laminate them. Here is a picture of some of the pages right after I printed them and a picture of the materials once I cut them out.
We have already tried the shadow matching activity and the number cards. The kids enjoyed them. They identified the vehicles and their colors. They practiced counting and matching. Michael worked on number recognition and Ava worked on her speech a little ("on top"). We had fun and there are several more activities left. You could easily play with the materials for a week, put them away for a while and pull them back out again in a couple of months and do it all again.
The Preschool Packs currently available are:
The Tot Packs currently available are:
I decided to start with the Transportation Theme Pack because transportation is popular with both my children. I did not print out every activity included with the pack because I didn't feel like my two and three year olds were ready for the letter tracing and writing activities just yet. I did print out the matching transportation picture/word cards, the shadow matching activity, the tracing lines activities, the 3-piece puzzle cards, the bus size sequencing activity, the counting cards, the left and right sorting cards, and the beginning-sound word cards. I printed most of them on cardstock and I may even laminate them. Here is a picture of some of the pages right after I printed them and a picture of the materials once I cut them out.
We have already tried the shadow matching activity and the number cards. The kids enjoyed them. They identified the vehicles and their colors. They practiced counting and matching. Michael worked on number recognition and Ava worked on her speech a little ("on top"). We had fun and there are several more activities left. You could easily play with the materials for a week, put them away for a while and pull them back out again in a couple of months and do it all again.
The Preschool Packs currently available are:
- Pond Life
- Peter Pan
- Knights
- Princess
- Transportation
- Doctor & Nurse
- Astronaut
- Solar System & Beyond
- Gardening
- Fireman
- Policeman
- Pirate
- Birthday Mini-Pack
- Cars
- Batman
- How to Train Your Dragon
- Birds
- Candy
- Robots
- Toy Story
- Gingerbread Baby
- Thanksgiving
- Nativity
The Tot Packs currently available are:
- Batman
- Cars
- Dinosaur Train
- Handy Manny
- Hermie
- Nemo
- Tarzan
- Thomas
- Veggie Tales
- Word World
- Brown Bear, Brown Bear
- Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
- Five Little Monkeys
- Very Hungry Caterpillar
- Big Machines
- Dinosaurs
- Farm
- Feelings
- Monsters
- Ocean Animals
- Pond Life
- Winter
- Christmas
- Valentine's Day
- Easter/Spring
- Noah's Ark
You might also be interested in the following articles:
Monday, January 24, 2011
To change or not?
Let's briefly digress to a totally different topic. Michael will be eligible for our local school district’s preschool program in the fall. Registration is at the end of this month. I can’t decide if we should switch him or not. Right now Ava and Michael both attend a local high quality day care two mornings a week. For the most part we’re happy with the program although it is expensive.
Pros of switching:
1. Well, first of all, it’s a lot cheaper. I could send Michael all five days a week for only a little over half of what his two days of day care costs now. Given that all these new therapy bills are coming in, paying less for preschool would be nice.
2. He’d be in preschool with his future elementary school classmates and have the opportunity to begin developing hopefully long term relationships and friendships.
3. He’d begin to get familiar with and comfortable with his future elementary school.
4. He’d be following an actual preschool curriculum rather than a daycare. He’d have to be more independent and follow a more structured routine. This would start to prepare him for the transition to kindergarten early.
Cons of switching:
1. Purely logistically, it would be a mess. I’d be dropping kids off at two separate places at two different times and the same for picking them up. They can attend daycare any time between 6:30am and 1pm. The daycare feeds them both breakfast and lunch. So I drop them both off together at about 7:45am and pick them both up at 12:15pm and the school’s taken care of two meals for me. If I switch Michael I’ll need to feed him, but not her breakfast. Then drop her off at 7:45 and drive to the preschool and drop him off at 8:15. Then I’ll have to pick him up at 11:15 and take him home and feed him lunch. Then put him back in the car to pick Ava up at 12:15. If I wait one more year to switch him to the school district’s preschool, they can both make the transition together. He’d still have a full year of preschool at the local school district before starting kindergarten.
2. He likes his current school. He likes his teacher. He likes the more nurturing atmosphere of the day care. I like the idea of more free play and less structure. He’s mature and smart and articulate for his age, but he’s still just a three year old boy and I think he deserves another year of play.
So, there it is. Decision needs to be made in the next week. I’d ask for opinions, but I’m pretty much the only one reading my blog and I don’t know what my opinion is yet. :-)
I’ll probably end up registering him just to reserve a spot. Why make a decision today when you can find a way to postpone the decision for several months? I can always decide not to switch him in the fall. I’d just have to be willing to give up the $50 deposit. Then the question is how many days? Definitely not all five, the question is 2, 3, or 4?
Pros of switching:
1. Well, first of all, it’s a lot cheaper. I could send Michael all five days a week for only a little over half of what his two days of day care costs now. Given that all these new therapy bills are coming in, paying less for preschool would be nice.
2. He’d be in preschool with his future elementary school classmates and have the opportunity to begin developing hopefully long term relationships and friendships.
3. He’d begin to get familiar with and comfortable with his future elementary school.
4. He’d be following an actual preschool curriculum rather than a daycare. He’d have to be more independent and follow a more structured routine. This would start to prepare him for the transition to kindergarten early.
Cons of switching:
1. Purely logistically, it would be a mess. I’d be dropping kids off at two separate places at two different times and the same for picking them up. They can attend daycare any time between 6:30am and 1pm. The daycare feeds them both breakfast and lunch. So I drop them both off together at about 7:45am and pick them both up at 12:15pm and the school’s taken care of two meals for me. If I switch Michael I’ll need to feed him, but not her breakfast. Then drop her off at 7:45 and drive to the preschool and drop him off at 8:15. Then I’ll have to pick him up at 11:15 and take him home and feed him lunch. Then put him back in the car to pick Ava up at 12:15. If I wait one more year to switch him to the school district’s preschool, they can both make the transition together. He’d still have a full year of preschool at the local school district before starting kindergarten.
2. He likes his current school. He likes his teacher. He likes the more nurturing atmosphere of the day care. I like the idea of more free play and less structure. He’s mature and smart and articulate for his age, but he’s still just a three year old boy and I think he deserves another year of play.
So, there it is. Decision needs to be made in the next week. I’d ask for opinions, but I’m pretty much the only one reading my blog and I don’t know what my opinion is yet. :-)
I’ll probably end up registering him just to reserve a spot. Why make a decision today when you can find a way to postpone the decision for several months? I can always decide not to switch him in the fall. I’d just have to be willing to give up the $50 deposit. Then the question is how many days? Definitely not all five, the question is 2, 3, or 4?
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